Ethics and Best Practices

Ethics and Best Practices

Ethics and Best Practices

Editorial Ethics and Best Practices

Commitment to Open Science and Academic Integrity

The International Journal of Open Science is an open access publication committed to transparency, reproducibility, and equity in scientific communication. Our ethics and best practices policy is based on international standards, including:

  • The COPE Code of Conduct, which outlines ethical principles for scholarly publishing.
  • The Singapore Statement on Research Integrity, promoting honesty, transparency, and accountability in knowledge production.
  • The Leiden Manifesto for responsible research evaluation, emphasizing qualitative assessment over traditional metrics.
  • The FAIR Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) for ensuring data accessibility and reuse.
  • The Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME).

All articles published in this journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which allows free access, reuse, and adaptation with appropriate credit to the authors.

1. Author Responsibilities

  • Originality and absence of plagiarism: Submissions must be original and not under simultaneous consideration elsewhere.
  • Research ethics: Studies involving humans or animals must comply with the Helsinki Declaration and have institutional ethics approval.
  • Transparency and open access: Authors are encouraged to deposit data in open repositories, adhering to FAIR principles.
  • Conflicts of interest: Must be disclosed in the manuscript.
  • Correction of errors: Authors must report any post-publication errors for correction or retraction as needed.

2. Peer Review Process

All articles are evaluated through a double-blind peer review. Quality is assessed based on content, methodological rigor, and contribution—not impact metrics. Constructive, evidence-based feedback is encouraged.

3. Reviewer Responsibilities

  • Review with impartiality, academic rigor, and confidentiality.
  • Decline review if a conflict of interest exists.
  • Do not use content for personal advantage.
  • Report any signs of misconduct (plagiarism, data manipulation, etc.).

4. Editorial Board Responsibilities

  • Make editorial decisions solely based on scientific merit.
  • Apply principles of transparency and best practices (COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, WAME).
  • Handle ethical disputes following COPE guidelines.
  • Promote open science by encouraging data, code, and methodology sharing.

5. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any conflicts of interest. Reviewers must decline to review if they have personal or institutional ties with the authors.

6. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

  • Correction: Issued when errors do not affect the article’s overall validity.
  • Retraction: For proven fraud, plagiarism, or misconduct.
  • Expression of concern: Published when there are unresolved doubts about an article.

7. Licensing and Open Science

All articles are published under the CC BY 4.0 license. Authors are encouraged to deposit datasets, software, methodologies, and preprints in open repositories, aligning with FAIR Principles.

8. Inclusion, Diversity, and Non-Discrimination

The journal ensures an inclusive editorial environment, free from discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, disability, nationality, sexual orientation, or beliefs. Diversity is promoted across the editorial board, authors, and reviewers.

9. Compliance and Sanctions

Non-compliance with this policy may result in manuscript rejection, article retraction, or exclusion from editorial processes. In severe cases, the relevant institution will be notified.

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